What is Polygon (MATIC)?

In terms of both decentralized app (DApp) development and acceptance, no blockchain has been more successful than Ethereum. However, despite its relative success, the Ethereum Network has several key obstacles that limit its scalability and utility.

To address those issues, Matic Network was introduced in 2017. In just a few years of timespan, the Matic Network changed its name to Polygon in 2021 to represent its broader ambition and extended capabilities beyond scalability solutions. The business won praise for its creative solution to Ethereum's scaling problems, enabling quicker and more affordable transactions.

The creators of Polygon were aware of the rise in popularity of decentralized apps and the requirement for a scalable infrastructure to accommodate it. Polygon sought to improve user experience, increase transaction speeds, and lower costs on the Ethereum network by utilizing layer 2 scaling techniques.

The company has completed a venture financing round and raised $450 million. Polygon remains the name of the protocol, while Polygon Labs is a company that participates in the development and growth of Polygon.

Who are the founders of Polygon?

Polygon was co-founded by Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, Anurag Arjun, and Mihailo Bjelic in 2017

Jaynti Kanani is the CEO of Polygon, formerly known as Matic Network. Before co-founding Polygon, Kanani worked as a Blockchain Engineer and recognized the scalability issues of Ethereum during the CryptoKitties phenomenon. In early 2018, he collaborated with other co-founders to initiate the Matic project, driven by their shared vision. Twitter: @jdkanani

Sandeep Nailwal, another co-founder, began his career as a software engineer and later launched ScopeWeaver, India's blockchain-based marketplace. With experience as a consultant at Deloitte, Nailwal co-founded Polygon with Jaynti Kanani and Anurag Arjun in 2017. Twitter: @sandeeepnailwal

Anurag Arjun, currently serving as the Chief Product Officer (CPO) at Polygon, brings years of programming experience to the company. He previously held positions as a Product Manager at Dexter Consultancy and Associate Vice President of Product Management at IRIS Business Services, where he played a key role in enhancing UX workflows, design improvements, and application performance optimization. Twitter: @anuragarjun

Mihailo Bjelic, a co-founder of Polygon, holds a degree in Engineering in Information Systems from the University of Belgrade. He is widely recognized in Ethereum communities as a prominent Ethereum researcher. Twitter: @MihailoBjelic

Explain the theory of Polygon (MATIC) Token.

MATIC is the native cryptocurrency of the Polygon blockchain. It is used to interact with tens of thousands of dApps involved in the Polygon ecosystem and to secure the network by staking. MATIC is an Ethereum token that powers the Polygon Network, a protocol and framework for building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks. The current circulating supply of MATIC is 8,734,317,475.285.

The Polygon network's transaction fees are paid with MATIC. To conduct transactions, communicate with smart contracts, and transfer assets inside the network, users must possess MATIC tokens. Holders of MATIC have the option to stake their tokens and take part in the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm used by the network. Holders of MATIC can contribute to network security and profit by staking. Holders of MATIC tokens can also take part in governance by casting votes on ideas and influencing the direction of the Polygon network.

The decentralized financial (DeFi) ecosystem on Polygon makes extensive use of MATIC. Users can use MATIC to access different decentralized applications (dApps) created on the Polygon network, supply liquidity, and take part in yield farming. In order to promote cross-chain transfers and interoperability, MATIC is employed as a bridge asset. Holders of MATIC can seamlessly move assets between multiple blockchain networks thanks to Polygon's interoperability solutions.

What is the technology behind Polygon?

Ethereum, as the leading smart contract platform, has experienced scalability challenges due to its design and limited transaction throughput. To address this issue, Polygon integrates with Ethereum as a Layer 2 scaling solution. This means that Polygon operates as a secondary network that relies on the security and consensus of the Ethereum mainnet while processing a higher volume of transactions off-chain. By constructing on top of Ethereum, Polygon gains access to the network's strong decentralization and security.

Ethereum has one of the largest networks of validators and a sizable amount of processing power validating its transactions as one of the most well-known and fully tested blockchains. Polygon benefits from this security model, ensuring that transactions and smart contracts on the Polygon network are upheld by the Ethereum blockchain's integrity. Polygon maintains compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and Ethereum tooling. This compatibility allows developers to seamlessly port their Ethereum dApps and smart contracts to Polygon with minimal modifications. The existing Ethereum ecosystem of wallets, decentralized exchanges, and other infrastructure can also be utilized on Polygon, simplifying the adoption process for developers and users.

Polygon enables smooth interoperability between Ethereum and its own Layer 2 solutions. Through Polygon's PoS Bridge, assets can be bridged between Ethereum and Polygon, allowing users to transfer tokens back and forth. This interoperability provides liquidity and flexibility for users and developers, enhancing the overall usability of Polygon's Layer 2 ecosystem.

By moving transactions off-chain and leveraging Ethereum as the mainnet for security, Polygon significantly reduces transaction costs and improves transaction speeds. Users can benefit from lower fees and faster confirmation times while enjoying the advantages of Ethereum's established ecosystem.

Plasma Framework: The Plasma Framework is a Layer 2 scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain. Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, and Joseph Poon proposed it as a solution to the scalability issues of Ethereum. Plasma makes it possible to build sidechains or child chains that handle a lot of transactions more quickly and cheaply.  By incorporating the Plasma framework, Polygon significantly enhances scalability by offloading transactions from the Ethereum mainnet to its Plasma chains.

These Plasma chains act as Layer 2 solutions, capable of processing a larger number of transactions at a faster rate. This scalability improvement enables Polygon to handle a high throughput of transactions, surpassing the limitations of the Ethereum network. Plasma chains allow for efficient and cost-effective transactions. By processing transactions on these sidechains, Polygon reduces congestion on the Ethereum mainnet and minimizes transaction fees. This makes transactions on Polygon's Plasma chains more affordable and accessible to users. While Plasma chains process transactions off-chain, they maintain a connection with the Ethereum mainnet for security and finality. This means that the Plasma chains periodically commit their state to the Ethereum mainnet, ensuring the integrity and validity of transactions. In the event of any dispute or fraud on the Plasma chain, users can rely on the Ethereum mainnet to settle and enforce correct state transitions.

The Plasma framework opens up various use cases for Polygon. With high throughput and lower transaction fees, Polygon's Plasma chains are suitable for applications that require fast and frequent transactions, such as decentralized exchanges, gaming platforms, and other high-volume use cases. Additionally, developers can build decentralized applications on Polygon that benefit from the scalability and cost-efficiency provided by the Plasma framework.

By integrating the Plasma framework into its infrastructure, Polygon takes advantage of sidechain technology to improve scalability, enabling quick and affordable transactions, and increasing the variety of potential applications. Polygon is a platform that developers and consumers find appealing for building and interacting with decentralized apps at scale because of its cost and scalability.

Proof-of-Stake Consensus: The number of tokens that validators have and are ready to "stake" as collateral determines who gets to create new blocks and approve transactions under a PoS consensus process. In contrast, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin use the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus, where validators compete by solving computational challenges. PoS consensus is renowned for its benefits in terms of scalability, lower energy use, and quicker block confirmations. Polygon implements a specific variant of PoS called the PoS checkpointing mechanism.

In this approach, validators in the Polygon network stake their MATIC tokens as collateral and propose checkpoints. These checkpoints contain the state of the network at a specific block height. Validators are responsible for verifying transactions and proposing new checkpoints periodically. PoS consensus, including the PoS checkpointing mechanism used by Polygon, improves scalability compared to PoW. PoS enables more effective transaction processing by eliminating the need for resource-intensive mining. With this scalability improvement, Polygon is able to serve more users and process more transactions without encountering the same restrictions as the Ethereum mainnet.

As a PoS-based network, Polygon's consensus mechanism reduces energy consumption compared to PoW-based networks like Bitcoin. Instead of relying on computational power, PoS validators stake their tokens as collateral. This eliminates the need for energy-intensive mining hardware, making PoS-based networks more environmentally friendly and sustainable. PoS consensus also enables faster block confirmations. Validators in the Polygon network, by staking their tokens, have a higher chance of being chosen to propose new blocks and validate transactions.

This results in reduced block confirmation times, allowing for faster transaction finality and improved user experience. Polygon leverages the advantages of PoS consensus, including improved scalability, reduced energy consumption, and faster block confirmations. This consensus mechanism, coupled with other scaling solutions such as the Plasma framework, contributes to Polygon's ability to process transactions efficiently, provide a seamless user experience, and support a wide range of decentralized applications and use cases.

The Polygon Software Development Kit (SDK): The Polygon SDK provides strong support for the creation of smart contracts. To create smart contracts that work with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), developers can use well-liked programming languages like Solidity. The SDK offers resources and tools for creating, evaluating, and deploying smart contracts on the Polygon network.

It ensures seamless integration with existing Ethereum development tools and frameworks. Developers can leverage familiar tools like Truffle, Hardhat, and Remix to enhance their development workflow. This compatibility enables developers to easily migrate and deploy their existing Ethereum-based projects to the Polygon network, thereby benefiting from Polygon's scalability and cost-efficiency. The Polygon SDK simplifies the deployment process of dApps on the Polygon network. It offers a range of deployment options, including deploying directly from the development environment or utilizing deployment scripts. The SDK streamlines the configuration and setup required for deploying dApps, making it more accessible and efficient for developers.

The kit supports interoperability and interchain communication. It enables seamless communication between dApps on the Polygon network and other Ethereum-based networks, including the Ethereum mainnet. This allows developers to leverage the wider Ethereum ecosystem and interact with other decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and more. To assist developers throughout the development process, Polygon SDK offers a comprehensive range of development tools. Tutorials, manuals, sample code, and developer-friendly APIs are some of these resources. The documentation for the SDK seeks to facilitate developers' onboarding and equip them with the knowledge and tools necessary to fully utilize the Polygon network.

By offering a robust set of tools, seamless Ethereum integration, easy deployment options, and comprehensive documentation, the Polygon SDK simplifies the development process and accelerates the adoption of dApps on the Polygon network. It provides developers with the necessary resources to build scalable and cost-effective applications that leverage Polygon's Layer 2 solutions while benefiting from the wider Ethereum ecosystem.

Interoperability: It is a key focus of Polygon, as it aims to enable seamless asset transfers and interactions between different blockchain networks. Bridges: Polygon employs bridge technology to establish connections between different blockchain networks. These bridges act as channels for transferring assets between the Polygon network and other compatible networks. By utilizing bridges, users can seamlessly move tokens and assets from one blockchain to another, opening up a range of possibilities for cross-chain transactions and collaborations.

Polygon incorporates interoperability protocols to facilitate communication and data exchange between different chains. These protocols ensure compatibility and smooth interaction between the Polygon network and other blockchain networks. By adhering to standardized interoperability protocols, Polygon enables developers and users to leverage assets and functionalities from diverse blockchain ecosystems. With interoperability, Polygon enables cross-chain transactions, allowing users to transfer assets between different blockchain networks.

For example, users can move tokens from the Ethereum mainnet to the Polygon network and vice versa, benefiting from Polygon's high speed and low transaction costs while maintaining access to the broader Ethereum ecosystem. It opens up opportunities for collaboration and expands the use cases of decentralized applications. Developers can leverage assets and functionalities from multiple blockchain networks, enhancing the capabilities and possibilities of their applications. This collaboration between different blockchain ecosystems encourages innovation and promotes the growth of the broader decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 ecosystem. Interoperability plays a crucial role in scaling decentralized finance applications. By connecting different blockchain networks, Polygon allows DeFi protocols and applications to overcome the scalability limitations of individual chains. This enables a more seamless and efficient experience for users, while also attracting more liquidity and expanding the DeFi ecosystem.

It seeks to create a connected and scalable blockchain ecosystem. By utilizing bridge technology, interoperability protocols, and facilitating cross-chain transactions, Polygon enables the seamless transfer of assets and data between different blockchain networks. This fosters collaborations expands use cases, and contributes to the growth and innovation of the broader decentralized ecosystem.

The PoS Bridge: It is specifically designed to enable the seamless movement of assets between the Ethereum and Polygon networks. The PoS Bridge allows users to transfer tokens and assets from the Ethereum network to the Polygon network and vice versa. This transfer mechanism ensures liquidity and compatibility between the two networks, providing users with the flexibility to utilize assets on either chain as per their requirements. Users can transfer tokens back and forth between Ethereum and Polygon thanks to the two-way asset transfers that are made possible. Users can easily use the advantages and services provided by both networks by initiating transactions to transfer their tokens across the two networks. Users can benefit from Polygon's fast throughput and low transaction fees while still being compatible with the Ethereum network by utilizing the PoS Bridge.

Polygon's Layer 2 solution significantly improves scalability and reduces transaction costs compared to the Ethereum mainnet, making it an attractive option for users who seek faster and more cost-efficient transactions. The PoS Bridge opens up new possibilities for various use cases across both Ethereum and Polygon networks. Users can leverage assets from Ethereum, including popular ERC-20 tokens, and utilize them on Polygon to access a wide range of decentralized applications, protocols, and services available in the Polygon ecosystem.

Conversely, users can also transfer assets from Polygon to Ethereum to participate in DeFi protocols, interact with NFT marketplaces, or engage in other activities on the Ethereum network. It also ensures compatibility and seamless interoperability between Ethereum and Polygon. Users can transfer tokens between the two networks without the need for complex processes or multiple conversions. This enhances the user experience and encourages broader adoption by eliminating barriers and limitations associated with asset movements between different blockchain networks.

Overall, the PoS Bridge is a critical component of Polygon's interoperability strategy, enabling users to transfer assets between Ethereum and Polygon networks effortlessly. By ensuring liquidity, compatibility, scalability, and cost efficiency, the PoS Bridge enhances the functionality and usability of both networks, empowering users to explore a wider range of use cases and opportunities within the decentralized ecosystem.

What are the use cases of Polygon?

Scalable dApps: Scalability is one of the main issues facing decentralized apps (dApps) created on the Ethereum network, and it is addressed by Polygon. Due to Ethereum's mainnet's transaction throughput and fee restrictions, it is challenging for dApps to manage a huge volume of users and transactions. Polygon solves this problem by offering a Layer 2 scaling solution called Plasma. By leveraging Plasma, Polygon significantly increases transaction throughput and reduces fees, allowing dApps to scale and accommodate a larger user base.

DeFi Protocols: Polygon has become a popular platform for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. DeFi encompasses various financial activities such as lending, borrowing, decentralized exchanges, liquidity pools, yield farming, and more. Polygon's infrastructure provides a low-cost and high-speed environment for these activities. Users can participate in DeFi on Polygon with lower fees and faster transaction confirmation times compared to the Ethereum mainnet. This accessibility and cost-effectiveness make Polygon an attractive choice for DeFi users and developers.

Gaming and NFTs: Polygon has gained significant traction in the gaming industry and the non-fungible token (NFT) market. Gaming dApps, virtual worlds, and NFT marketplaces require high transaction throughput and low fees to provide a seamless user experience. Polygon's scalability makes it an ideal platform for these applications. Developers can create gaming dApps and virtual worlds that can handle a large number of players and transactions without experiencing network congestion or high fees. Additionally, Polygon's infrastructure supports the creation and trading of NFTs, which have become increasingly popular for digital art, collectibles, and other digital assets.

Cross-chain Interoperability: Interoperability between different blockchain networks is crucial for the growth and development of the decentralized ecosystem. Polygon aims to achieve cross-chain interoperability by providing bridges and interoperability protocols. These bridges allow for the transfer of assets and data between Ethereum and other blockchains, enabling cross-chain collaboration. By facilitating the movement of assets across different ecosystems, Polygon expands the possibilities for developers and users to leverage the strengths of multiple blockchains.

Infrastructure for Developers: Polygon offers a developer-friendly environment with its Polygon SDK (Software Development Kit). The SDK includes tools and libraries for smart contract development, deployment, and integration with existing Ethereum tools. Developers familiar with Ethereum can easily transition to building and deploying dApps on Polygon. They can take advantage of Polygon's scalability and cost-efficiency to create innovative applications and improve the overall user experience.

Enterprise Solutions: Polygon caters to the needs of enterprise clients by providing a scalable and secure infrastructure for blockchain-based applications. Enterprises often require private or consortium blockchains to manage their supply chains, share data securely, or verify identities. Polygon's technology stack allows enterprises to build and deploy these private or consortium blockchains while benefiting from the scalability and security provided by the Polygon network. This opens up opportunities for enterprises to leverage blockchain technology for various use cases and reap the benefits of decentralized solutions.

What are the latest developments of Polygon?

By providing a range of innovative scaling solutions, Polygon aims to enhance transaction throughput, reduce fees, and improve user experience. Recent developments, such as the launch of the Polygon zkEVM Testnet, venture financing round completion, and carbon neutrality achievement, highlight Polygon's commitment to transforming the decentralised ecosystem.

Polygon zkEVM Testnet: The Next Chapter of Ethereum Scaling

Polygon's zkEVM Testnet represents a significant milestone in Ethereum scaling. This solution utilizes zero-knowledge rollups to enable faster and cheaper transactions while ensuring security. By running alongside the Ethereum main chain, zkEVM unlocks enhanced scalability without compromising the robustness of the underlying network. With near-zero gas costs, Polygon zkEVM Testnet pioneers a new era of efficient and cost-effective Ethereum transactions.

Polygon Miden: Expanding Throughput while Maintaining Security

Polygon Miden, an upcoming development, aims to tackle the challenge of limited scalability without sacrificing security. By increasing transaction throughput, Miden seeks to alleviate network congestion and enhance the efficiency of decentralized applications. Miden's emphasis on maintaining a robust security framework ensures a trustless environment for users and developers.

Polygon Avail: Empowering Scalability with Security and User Experience

Another solution on the horizon is Polygon Avail, which aims to provide an effective answer to the scalability limitations faced by Ethereum. Avail seeks to strike a delicate balance between scalability, security, and user experience. By leveraging innovative technological advancements, Avail aims to unlock higher transaction throughput while ensuring the integrity and reliability of the network.

Diverse Scaling Solutions: Supernets and zkRollups

Polygon's commitment to innovation is evident through its development of various scaling solutions. Polygon Supernets and four different zkRollup solutions, namely Hermez, Nightfall, Miden, and Zero, offer diverse approaches to enhance Ethereum's scalability. These solutions leverage cutting-edge technologies to optimize transaction throughput, reduce fees, and foster a seamless user experience.

Venture Financing Round Completion and Carbon Neutrality

Polygon's recent venture financing round highlights the growing confidence in its vision and solutions. The completion of this financing round provides Polygon with the necessary resources to accelerate its development efforts and drive further advancements in Ethereum scaling. Additionally, Polygon's commitment to environmental sustainability is demonstrated through its achievement of carbon neutrality, contributing to a greener and more sustainable blockchain ecosystem.

Polygon has emerged as a leading force in Ethereum scaling, addressing the limitations of the Ethereum network and revolutionizing user experience. Through the launch of the Polygon zkEVM Testnet, upcoming solutions like Polygon Miden and Polygon Avail, and the development of diverse scaling solutions, Polygon continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in the decentralized ecosystem. With its commitment to innovation, venture financing success, and environmental responsibility, Polygon is poised to shape the future of blockchain technology, providing faster, more cost-effective, and user-friendly solutions for decentralized applications.

What are the future developments of Polygon?

Polygon has been working with the Indian government to implement blockchain technology for various purposes.

Issuing caste certificates: The Maharashtra state government has started issuing caste certificates over the Polygon blockchain to citizens residing in Etapalli village, Gadchiroli district, as a part of the Digital India campaign. In partnership with LegitDoc, a blockchain-based application, the Maharashtra state government is in the process of rolling out 65,000 caste certificates to aid the process of delivering governmental schemes and benefits.

Verifying documentation for graduates: The local government of Karnataka has recently adopted the Polygon network to verify documentation for graduates looking for employment.

Managing public complaints: The police department of India’s Firozabad city has announced a plan to use the Polygon blockchain to register complaints as part of speeding up the resolution process of public complaints. The system will deploy the OxPolygon modular blockchain with the department citing benefits like a tamper-proof system that does not interfere with logged complaints.

KYC requirements: Polygon will now require to Know Your Customer (KYC) details to offer funding, investments, grants or financial support to potential Indian partners

The use of Polygon in e-governance in India provides several benefits.

• Efficiency: The use of Polygon blockchain technology can help speed up the process of delivering governmental schemes and benefits by providing a tamper-proof system that does not interfere with logged complaints. This can help reduce bureaucracy and improve the efficiency of government services.

• Transparency: The use of Polygon blockchain technology can help increase transparency in the delivery of government services by providing verifiable caste certificates that can be checked by various government departments. This can help reduce corruption and increase trust in government services.

• Security: The use of Polygon blockchain technology can help improve the security of government services by providing a decentralized system that is safer than private blockchain as they are decentralized. This can help reduce the risk of data breaches and improve the overall security of government services.

• Scalability: Polygon is setting new standards for scaling solutions and shows what the future of blockchain could look like. As a Layer 2 solution, Polygon addresses the diverse needs of developers by providing tools to create scalable dApps that prioritize security, modularity, and UX. This can help improve the scalability of government services and provide better services to citizens.

Token Holders Counting: 

Contract- 0x7D1AfA7B718fb893dB30A3aBc0Cfc608AaCfeBB0
Total Holdings- $472,499.58 (61 Tokens)